In an apparent reference to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the terrorists in Kashmir should have been dealt with effectively in 1947, when the first terrorist attack occurred after Partition. “What India is experiencing today is a distorted form of the same terror that has plagued the country for decades,” Modi said while addressing a gathering in Gujarat where he is on a two-day visit.
During his two days visit to Vadodara, Dahod, Bhuj, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, PM remarked he experienced “fervour of patriotism with the roar of success of Operation Sindoor”. “We should have killed the Mujahideens who entered Kashmir in 1947 and then the present situation would not have arisen,” PM said referring to the incursions in Kashmir immediately after Independence.
“During Partition, Maa Bharati (Mother India) was divided into two and that very night, the first terror attack on Kashmir was launched by Mujahideens,” Modi said adding that with the help of these terrorists Pakistan captured a “part of Mother India”.
“Sardar Patel was of opinion then that the Indian Army should not have stopped until Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) was reclaimed. However, Patel’s advice was not heeded. They (Pakistan and terrorists backed by it) tasted blood,” PM said.
“This legacy of terrorism has continued for the last 75 years and the terror attacks in Pahalgam was another horrific form of it. Despite playing diplomatic games, Pakistan repeatedly faced India’s military strength in war. On three occasions, India’s armed forces decisively defeated Pakistan, making it clear that Pakistan could not triumph in a direct military conflict with India,” Modi said. Realising its limitations, Pakistan resorted to proxy warfare, pushing trained terrorists into India and targeting innocent and unarmed civilians including pilgrims, he said. India has only kept the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance (in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack) and Pakistan is already feeling the heat, the PM further said. “India has always pursued progress and welfare of all, offering assistance (to its neighbours) in times of crisis.
“However, despite these efforts, the nation has often faced violent attacks,” he said. While dams were constructed on rivers (falling under the Indus Water Treaty) on our side, they were not maintained properly and desilting was neglected for sixty years, Modi said, adding that gates meant for regulation of the water flow were left unopened, leading to a drastic reduction in storage capacity to merely two to three percent.
Indian people must receive their rightful access to water, he said, adding that while significant steps are yet to be taken, initial measures have been initiated. Modi mentioned that when he took over as Prime Minister in 2014, India was the 11th largest economy, and it rose to the fourth position over the last 11 years despite facing challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties with neighboring countries and natural calamities.
Refusing to make any distinction between non-State and State actors in Pakistan, Modi said the neighbouring country is engaging in war by continuing to support terrorism. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) is our sanskar (value imbibed through tradition), we want happiness for our neighbours too, but if you challenge our strength, then India is also a land of heroes,” Modi said.
“We cannot call this a proxy war, as those who were killed after May 6 (during Operation Sindoor) were given State honors in Pakistan. Pakistani flags were draped over their coffins, and their military saluted them. This proves that these terrorist activities are not just a proxy war, this is a deliberate war strategy on their part,” the Prime Minister said.
‘Master distorian’ Congress slams PM
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his veiled criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress said on Tuesday that even on the first prime minister’s death anniversary, the “master distorian” is active in “Nehru-bashing” and attempting to divert attention from serious issues that confront the country.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asked why is the prime minister silent on US President Donald Trump’s statements — made eight times in 11 days — on the “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan that forced Operation Sindoor to stop.
“Even on Nehru’s death anniversary the nation’s supreme (mis) leader and master distorian is active in Nehru-bashing. This is a pathetic attempt at diverting attention from very many serious issues that confront us today, which he must answer,” Ramesh said in a post on X. Why are the terrorists responsible for the brutal Pahalgam terror attack still moving around somewhere — more so since they were reportedly involved in terror attacks in Poonch (December 2023), Gagangir (October 2024) and Gulmarg (October 2024), he asked. “Why is the PM silent on the US President’s statements — 8 in 11 days — on the ceasefire between India and Pakistan that forced Operation Sindoor to stop?” he asked.
“Why is the PM quiet on the deep military nexus between China and Pakistan, that has now become more apparent than ever before — the very same China to whom he had given a clean chit on June 19, 2020 publicly and with whom India has continued to have rising a trade deficit?” the Congress leader asked further. He also questioned Modi’s silence on the “growing hyphenation” of India with Pakistan and the failure of New Delhi’s diplomacy and narrative to isolate the neighbouring country. Ramesh’s remarks came after Modi, speaking in Gandhinagar, took a veiled dig at Nehru. “In 1947, when Maa Bharti was partitioned, ‘katni chahiye thi zanjeerein par kaat di gayi bhujayein (chains should have been cut but instead, hands were severed)’.
The country was divided into three parts. On that very night, the first terrorist attack took place in Kashmir,” Modi said.
“A part of Maa Bharti was captured by Pakistan using terrorists in the name of Mujahideen. If on that day, these Mujahideen were killed, and Sardar Patel’s wish was that until we get back PoK, our armed forces should not stop. But no one listened to him and now, we have been facing this (terrorism) for the last 75 years. Pahalgam was also a perverse form of it,” the prime minister said.
In an earlier post on X, Ramesh paid tributes to Nehru on his death anniversary and accused the BJP-led Government of attempting to diminish his legacy.
“Today is the 61st death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, who simply refuses to go away in spite of a systematic 6D effort being made — since 2014 especially — to defame, distort, deny, denigrate, diminish, and demolish him and his legacy,” he said.
Nehru’s contributions to the making of a modern India are most fundamental and profound, the Congress leader added.
“He remains a source of great inspiration to all those committed to the idea of an India anchored in the finest of its own composite heritage, an open, liberal and secular democracy with its Constitutional goals of social, economic and political justice, modern science and technology with a scientific temper at its roots and an India that stands exclusive globally by being uncompromisingly inclusive at home,” Ramesh said.
“For Nehru, democracy and yet more democracy was the oxygen which gave meaning to our lives, not demagoguery. He was authoritative without being authoritarian. He was not just an outstanding public figure who read, wrote, and shaped history decisively — perhaps more importantly, a good, decent, large-hearted, reflective, and noble human being with no insecurities whatsoever which he would have to overcome with bluffs, brags, and bombasts as we are seeing daily since May 26, 2014,” Ramesh said.
For Nehru, India was one and many at the same time, he added.
Nehru’s entire life was devoted to deepening that oneness, while at the same time, celebrating the many diversities that define India, the Congress leader said.
“To reclaim the idea of India that is now under so much assault, we have to reclaim the ideas of Nehru himself,” he added.
“Nehru wrote his will and testament ten years before he passed away. It is written in ‘sparkling prose’ that is so very poetic,” Ramesh said.
Nehru is India’s longest-serving prime minister, who was at the helm since the country’s independence in August 1947 till his death on May 27, 1964.